U.S. photographer Katie Orlinsky moved to Mexico in 2006, just after graduating from college. The drug war surrounded her, and she quickly realized that women — not just men — were serving as its weary warriors, ferrying contraband and kidnapping kingpins.

Claudia is the sister of Eunice, a model. Eunice was 19.
One night the other photographers were all looking at these photos. And it was me and this other woman, the only other female photographer. And we’re like, ‘What are you guys looking at?’ And they said, ‘We’re looking at photos of this sexy chick.’ And it’s Eunice. They told me how she was arrested for kidnapping. Because of her notoriety as a model, the Juárez media latched onto the case. And I was like, ‘Wow. I want to meet her.’

They said, ‘No, there’s no media access to her. No one can see her.’

And I was like ‘Alright, we’ll see about that.’ So I went to the prison.